Heroes Wear Green
by No Sleep Until Vacation
Summary: When Oikawa gave his life to save the Digital World, he left his digimon partner behind. Not content with staying in Primary Village, Datirimon resolves to become a hero like his human partner. However, no one ever said this was going to be easy...
1. A Partner's Resolve

**A/N: Okay...for those of you who think of me as "that girl who wrote all those badfics about the Digimon villains"...you can think of this as an apology of sorts. I deleted most of my pre-2010 stuff, anyway. That's how ashamed I am. From now on, I'll try and make more of an effort to keep people in character. Also, I'll try to think of better jokes than in the past, where I just used generic random humor with no rhyme or reason and called it funny. And no, this fanfic is not about Season 1 or any villains from that season. In fact, this is a Season 2 fic, and it stars Datirimon, who was Oikawa's partner digimon from the last episode. Hey, I thought there was potential! And I wanted to do something a little different from the norm...**

**But enough about that. If I keep this up for very much longer, the author's note will be longer than the actual story. So let's start this, already!**

**Heroes Wear Green**

_All around him, he could see grass. Miles and miles of grass, swaying in the wind. There were a few rocks, and he thought he could see a tree or two in the distance. He was sitting against a small rock, and he felt like there was something he needed to do. Right now, though, he felt a little sleepy. He thought he could hear the faint sound of waves rolling onto sand, but he wasn't sure. The sky was overcast, which wasn't too strange for this time of year. As long as it didn't rain, he would be fine._

_He leaned back and let out a huge yawn. As he shut his black eyes, he felt he could drift off. However, he soon felt something on his forehead. Groggily opening his eyes, he discovered a little white butterfly perched on his forehead._

_"Oh...hi!" he said to the butterfly. The butterfly flapped its wings a little, then quickly took flight and sped off. Before he knew it, the butterfly had returned with a swarm of many identical butterflies, and his eyes widened in awe. He was about to say something, but suddenly, the butterflies flew underneath him, scooped him up, and started flying around._

_"Whoa!" he shouted, before chuckling nervously. "So, where are we going?"_

_As he expected, the butterflies said nothing, but the flight path did the talking for them. They flew high into the sky, breezing over the grass like it was no big deal, weaving in between the trees of the forest they passed through, and all the while he was enjoying the ride. Sure, the friction of the air blowing in his face stung a little, but if it mattered right now, it didn't matter enough for him to complain._

_After what felt like forever, the butterflies finally slowed down before completely stopping at a beach. They gently set him down onto the sand, and he stared at the ocean, watching the waves roll onto the shore. He turned around to look at the butterflies, but he noticed something odd. A very faint humanoid shade was starting to form around the butterflies, who were swarming in circles. It almost reminded him of..._

_"Yukio?"_

_In that instant, it seemed as if something flashed, and before he knew it, he was no longer on the beach. Instead, he was lying on the ice-cold stones of the floor of a dark castle. While it was almost pitch-black, he could still faintly see what appeared to be a demonic, dark purple dragon, bigger than anything he had seen before. The look in the dragon's eyes was filled with pure malice, and he almost felt its glare piercing his soul, almost willing him to just give up on everything._

_But then, he heard a voice from far away..._

_"Dati?"_

_This was weird..._

_"Hey! Dati!"_

_Was this voice calling him from another world, or..._

"Datirimon!"

The little green digimon finally opened his eyes drowsily. "Huh...?"

He had been sleeping in a little bed inside of a small one-room hut. Two other digimon were looking at him curiously; one of them was a little black blob with round ears and yellow eyes, while the other one looked like a red rabbit with blue stripes and nine tails.

"Yay, you woke up!" the blob cheered, hopping up and down. "Elecmon's gonna show the movie pretty soon! Wanna come with us, Dati?"

"Okay, Botamon."

"Woohoo, I can't wait!" Botamon said, hopping out the door.

Elecmon ran after him. "Careful, Botamon! Don't run into anyone!"

Datirimon, or "Dati", as he was more commonly called, was now all alone in the hut. As much as he would have liked to watch the movie, he found himself just sitting in the bed, feeling like his mind was swimming in confusion.

_What was that dream...?_

Elecmon poked his head into the hut from the nearby window. "Coming, Datirimon?"

"Huh? Oh, right, the movie!" Dati said, running out the door and meeting up with Botamon and Elecmon outside. The sun was beginning to set in the sky as Dati, Elecmon, Botamon, and several other babies walked across the colorful and whimsical landscape of Primary Village to get to a larger building, which was where Elecmon would show the movie to the babies.

As he walked, Dati couldn't help staring at the ground. His train of thought was overloaded on fuel right now, and it was all thanks to his dream.

_Those butterflies...Yukio's butterflies...why can't I stop thinking of him? He was my purpose; we were going to do great things together...it's only been two months, and I can't let go..._

"You okay, Dati?" Botamon asked.

"He'd better be. I hate crybabies!"

Dati gasped and his heart started with a jolt. Botamon turned to look at the source of the voice: a little red blob with eyes, a mouth, and bat wing-shaped ears. He was sitting off to the side, out of the crowd's way. The smirk on his face screamed "I am so much better than any of you".

"Back off, Jyarimon," Botamon said with a glare. "You'd be sad, too, if you lost a friend."

Jyarimon rolled his eyes. "Whatever! At least I wouldn't whine like a baby about it like he's doing."

"You've never lost a friend, have you?"

"Well, have _you_?"

"No, but-"

"Ha!" Jyarimon laughed. "You haven't lost a friend, so you can't speak for him!"

Botamon growled. "At least I listen to him! All you do is call him names!"

Elecmon stepped in between the two babies. "Calm down, you two."

Jyarimon scoffed. "You're telling me to calm down when you're the one who punished me for telling the truth?"

Botamon leaned over from behind Elecmon. "Well, you could've been nicer about it!"

"Boys, boys!" Elecmon said, and the digimon stared at him.

He turned to Jyarimon. "Jyarimon, this is your last chance to get your movie privileges back. Either tell Datirimon you're sorry, or you're staying out here."

This only made Jyarimon burst into laughter.

"This is hilarious! He wants me to lie to someone I don't like just so I can see a stupid movie!" he said as he rolled on the ground. "What kind of caretaker acts like that? And he said honesty was a good thing!"

At this point, Elecmon decided that there was no getting an apology out of Jyarimon. "Come on, everyone, let's go in."

Elecmon and the babies all entered the building, leaving Jyarimon on the ground, howling with laughter.

"Don't listen to Jyarimon, Dati," Botamon said as they entered the building. "He's a jerk. And the worst part is, he always makes up some weirdo logic for why he's 'right'. The other day, he stole my toy car and told Elecmon that he took it because I wouldn't share. I would've shared, if he asked me nicely!"

Dati leaned in and whispered, "I'm not surprised..."

"I know, right? No one wants to hang out with him because he only cares about himself!"

Elecmon turned on a TV. "Okay, everyone, let's watch a movie!"

Most of the babies cheered. Dati, however, still couldn't help but think about things.

The movie was called "Salamon's Summer". In it, Salamon (a puppy-like digimon) wished for every day to be summer. The wish came true, and naturally, it led to chaos. While many funny things happened during the movie, Dati only laughed a little bit. Even so, he continued watching.

However, about an hour into the movie, there was something that made him change his mind:

_Salamon walked up to the blue dog-like Gaomon and tried to talk. "Gaomon, I-"_

_The panicked Gaomon started hyperventilating. "No! I gotta get out of here!"_

_Suddenly, a light began to envelop him._

_"Gaomon, digivolve to...Gaogamon!"_

_With that, the bigger, more lupine Gaogamon started darting across the grasslands, and Salamon tried to run after him._

_"Wait!" Salamon yelled. "We have to find the Wizardmon who did this, so he can fix it! Come on, Gaogamon! You can't leave me! We have to go together! We're partners!"_

Those last words hit a very tender nerve for Dati, and before anyone knew it, he was running upstairs into a second-story room, bawling his eyes out.

Botamon gasped. "Oh, no!"

With that, he made his way upstairs after his friend.

Meanwhile, Jyarimon was sitting outside of the building, staring at the night sky.

_I bet they're having so much fun in there,_ he thought. _Probably watching some goody-two-shoes movie..._

"Hey, Jyarimon?"

Jyarimon looked and saw a purple jellyfish-like digimon floating nearby. He was holding a plastic bag filled with various things, including chips and soda.

"Hey, Keramon," Jyarimon said. "I see you got the stuff."

"Yep," Keramon replied, sitting down next to Jyarimon and giving him a bag of chips and a can of soda. "So, what are you doing out here?"

"Everyone else is in there watching a movie," Jyarimon said, opening the bag of the chips. "I wasn't allowed."

"Too scary?"

Jyarimon ate a chip. "Nope. Elecmon wouldn't let me watch it. He wanted to punish me."

Keramon tilted his head. "Punish you?"

Jyarimon nodded. "Yeah. You see, there's this new digimon named Datirimon. Apparently, he had a human partner, like a Digidestined or something, but the human died and now he's on his own. Ever since Elecmon brought him here, he's been crying about it all the time."

"Did you yell at him or something?"

"Yeah, this morning. Told him he needed to quit whining, and his human partner was dead and he needed to deal with that. And I mean, c'mon, whining about it won't bring him back! So yeah, some baby digimon heard me and decided to rat it out to Elecmon. Elecmon started lecturing me like 'blah blah blah, that wasn't very nice', and then before I knew it, he told me to tell Datirimon that I was sorry."

Keramon opened a can of soda. "So what did you do?"

"Simple. I told Elecmon that I wasn't sorry, and that if he wanted me to apologize, he basically wanted me to lie. And why is he making me do that if it's bad to lie? So long story short, he put me in time-out and told me I couldn't watch the movie. And frankly, I don't care. It sounded like a dumb baby movie anyway."

"Well, I brought some stuff that's even more fun than some movie," Keramon said, pulling out some cheap water guns, uninflated balloons, and other toys. "Why don't we go into the forest? You've always wanted to run away to where Elecmon couldn't find you, so..."

"Do you even have to ask?" Jyarimon replied with a grin.

With that, the pair of delinquents quickly made their way across the landscape of Primary Village and exited into a nearby forest, where they spent time having water fights, playing games, and basically being rowdy.

Meanwhile, Dati was on the upper floor of the building, standing in a corner and wailing. Botamon hopped up the stairs and entered the room.

"Dati? Are you okay?"

Dati stopped crying, but he didn't even turn to face him. "...No."

"Look, Dati, is there anything we can do for you?" Botamon asked, almost ready to cry himself. "I don't like it when my friends are sad..."

For a short moment, neither of them spoke. Botamon really wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out; what if they only made things worse?

Before either of them could decide what to do, Elecmon came up the stairs. "You okay, Datirimon? Sorry, I didn't know the movie would upset you..."

The only response was more silence from all three parties. It felt like forever before Dati finally broke the silence.

"...Is this how it's supposed to be? Just me staying here?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Elecmon asked.

Dati didn't bother to turn around as he explained.

"If Yukio's gone, and he was my partner, am I supposed to just stay here? Will I get a new partner or something? I don't want a new partner; Yukio and I were going to be heroes together..."

In that instant, it felt like a lightbulb in Dati's mind switched itself on.

_If Yukio got to be a hero, then why not me?_

"You know what?" Elecmon asked. "This is the first time this happened, or at least one of the first times. So you can make the decision."

"Well...I have an idea," Dati replied.

Botamon hopped into the air. "Ooh! Tell us!"

"Okay...I said Yukio and I were going to be heroes, and I remembered that he became a hero, so..."

"Yeah?" Botamon asked. "Go on!"

"I don't want to just stay here. The digimon in the Digital World might be having troubles with things. I know the Digidestined saved the world twice, but they can't be called on all the time, can they? I mean, they have lives beyond this, just like you told me, Elecmon. We need to start defending ourselves in case some other evil decides to take over the world. So, Elecmon..."

"Yeah?"

Dati turned around, walked up to him, and looked him straight in the eyes. "I want to be a hero...just like Yukio."

"Whoa!" Elecmon replied, laughing nervously. "I got no problems with this, but...if you wanna save the world, that might be a little too dangerous. If you ask me, you gotta start small first."

"I know. I wasn't thinking of saving the world right now. It's just...maybe one day I could do it. Right now, I wanna follow my dream. If I can help people when they really need it, maybe I'll become a hero."

"Neat!" Botamon said. "Just remember, if you ever need my help, all you have to do is ask! I'm gonna go to Mesozoic Isle when I'm strong enough. I've heard there's a mechanic there, and I hope he can teach me how to be an engineer. If we meet each other there, you can ask me for anything!"

"Thanks, Botamon."

"So now that everything's okay, you wanna finish the movie?" Elecmon asked.

"Sure!" Botamon replied, and the three headed back downstairs.

Back with Jyarimon...

"Oh, man, I had so much fun!" Jyarimon said as he and Keramon walked back to the building in the night. "It was better than any movie Elecmon would show!"

"Yeah, I'm glad you had fun," Keramon replied as he reached into his bag. "More chips?"

The duo stopped in front of the building. "Yeah, all that fun made me hungry!"

Keramon opened the bag of chips, and Jyarimon began scarfing them down. When he finished the last chip, he began feeling a strange tingling sensation.

"You okay, Jyarimon?"

"Whoa...I think it's probably time for me to...!"

A bright light engulfed Jyarimon, and he began morphing. Keramon watched as Jyarimon's silhouette grew a longer body, four legs, and a tail.

"Jyarimon digivolve to...Gigimon!"

The light dissipated, and Gigimon stood in front of his friend. "Did I just...?"

"Yeah, I think you digivolved."

The two partners in crime stared at each other for a brief moment, but then Keramon broke the silence. "You know what this means, right?"

Gigimon nodded. "I'm an In-Training digimon now, so..."

He paused as the realization hit him. Slowly but surely, a smirk began creeping across his face.

"I don't have to stay here anymore! Aw, yeah!" 

Just then, the door to the building opened, and Elecmon began walking out with the babies.

Gigimon jumped in front of them. "Hey, lame-o's! Guess who just digivolved?"

Botamon's eyes widened. "Is that you, Jyarimon?"

Gigimon laughed. "You got that right! Except now, I'm Gigimon! And since I'm an In-Training digimon now, I can blow this popsicle stand and move on to someplace else, hopefully where nobody's an idiot, a liar, or a crybaby! And the best part?"

He looked directly at Elecmon and smirked. "You're not the boss of me now! So you can't tell me I'm wrong or make me apologize to anyone! I'm finally free, and I couldn't be happier! Now, if you'll excuse me, Keramon and I are outta here. So long, suckers!"

The two delinquents darted off into the night, screaming, "Look out, world!"

Elecmon and the babies stared off into the distance, warching them until they disappeared. Afterwards, most of the babies went back to their cradles, leaving Elecmon, Botamon, and Dati standing together.

"I don't know what his problem is," Botamon said. "We're not idiots, liars, or crybabies."

"He thinks we are," Elecmon said. "But the important thing is he's gone and he doesn't want to come back. I still wish he apologized, though."

"Elecmon?"

Elecmon looked at Dati. "What's up?"

"If you don't mind, I'm going to start training tomorrow. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is. I think we should all go to bed right now, though. Tomorrow, I'll show you where you can train."

"Okay, Elecmon. Thank you!"

With that, Elecmon and Botamon left to go to bed. Dati, however, remained where he was, and stared up at the night sky.

"Just watch me, Yukio," he whispered, "I'm going to be a hero like you. If any digimon need help, I'll be there for them. Maybe we can even meet up with each other one day...but I'm going to do it. I'm going to start training tomorrow, and then when I digivolve, I'll leave Primary Village and see where the road takes me. I'm going to fulfill my destiny as your digimon partner!"

With his resolve clear in his mind, Dati decided to go inside the house he was in earlier that day and get some rest. His adventures were just about to begin...

**A/N: You know, I was thinking of writing something to commemerate the release of Pokemon X and Y, but then I thought, "It's my fifth anniversary of being on this site. Might as well publish the first chapter of my big project. You know, the one I've been teasing for over two years now?" So here we are. I hope you liked the first chapter of this story. If there are any ways I could improve, please let me know. Thank you!**


	2. If I Leave Here Tomorrow

**A/N: And here comes Chapter 2 of my story.**

"On your marks...get set...go!"

Dati and Botamon dashed for the ball on the field. Before they could get to it, a white version of Botamon took it and started dribbling it towards the goal.

"Nice catch, SnowBotamon!" a puffball with floppy dog ears and a small tail said.

"Thanks, Paomon!" SnowBotamon replied. "Now, let's show them why we're the best!"

Dati and Botamon started running after the other duo.

"Look out, Reremon!" Botamon cried.

Reremon (a yellow ball with a fox tail) stared down SnowBotamon, analyzing her every move. SnowBotamon shot the ball towards the goal, but Reremon blocked it with her tail and threw it out of the goal box. Dati seized the ball and started running to the opponents' goal.

"Wow, look at him go!" Botamon said, watching SnowBotamon and Paomon run after him. "I bet if he keeps up his training, he'll be the fastest digimon in the world!"

"Well, the fastest runner, at any rate," Reremon replied. "How long has he been training, anyway?"

"About a week. He really wants to go on an adventure, and I don't blame him."

"Interesting."

Meanwhile, Dati focused on the goal (and the spider digimon guarding it) as he dribbled the ball down the small court.

"He's coming for you, KoDokugumon!" Paomon cried out.

When Dati shot the ball, KoDokugumon was prepared to grab it, but Paomon beat him.

"Don't worry, I got this!" she said as she dribbled the ball back towards the other goal.

"I'm open!" SnowBotamon said.

Paomon quickly passed the ball to SnowBotamon, but before she could take it, Botamon jumped in the way and took control of the ball.

"All right, Dati, this is all you!" he said as he passed the ball. As soon as Dati received it, he ran forward and blasted the ball into the goal.

However, right after kicking the ball, he was cloaked in a harsh light.

KoDokugumon's jaw dropped, and now he didn't even care about the ball rolling beside him into the goal. "What the heck?"

The other digimon just stared as Dati's form changed.

"Datirimon digivolve to..."

He stopped glowing, and he was now standing before everyone, now resembling a bulb instead of an unripe tomato. He now had four feet, and there was a sprout growing from his head.

"...Tanemon!"

SnowBotamon hopped over to him, looking very interested. "Cool, you digivolved!"

"Congratulations, Dati!" Botamon said, hopping next to him. "Can I still call you that?"

"Sure you can," he replied. "So, uh...what should I do now?"

"Well, you said you'd start going on your adventure when you'd digivolved, so..." Botamon began.

"I didn't think I'd digivolve so soon," Dati replied. "I don't think I'm ready just yet."

"Well, we could finish our game," Paomon suggested.

"Yeah, but I'm an In-Training digimon now, so it's not fair," Dati said. "Besides, I think KoDokugumon left to do something else."

The other digimon looked around, and sure enough, KoDokugumon wasn't there.

"That's strange," Reremon said. "He usually says goodbye before he leaves. Why wouldn't he do that this time?"

Before anyone could answer, they heard a familiar voice approaching them.

"See? He digivolved!"

The babies turned and saw KoDokugumon approaching them. This time, he had brought Elecmon with him.

"So, you digivolved?" Elecmon asked. "That's great!"

Dati gulped. "Um, Elecmon? Can we talk?"

"Sure," he said, and looked at the other babies. "We'll be right back, okay, guys?"

The others said okay, and Elecmon led Dati to a bench where the two of them took a seat.

Elecmon decided to break the ice. "So, what's wrong?"

Dati took a deep breath. "You see, during the soccer game, I digivolved to In-Training. I told myself that this would be the point where I'd leave Primary Village and go on my adventure. But, the thing is, I don't feel like I'm ready. Maybe I'm just really scared that I'll fail, and Yukio will be disappointed in me or something. I don't want to disappoint anyone..."

"Hey, don't be afraid of making mistakes," Elecmon replied. "It happens to the best of us, you know? If you make a mistake, you can always fix it up, say you're sorry, and move on."

"I know, but...what if it's a really bad mistake that can't easily be fixed? And what if they don't forgive me, no matter what I do?"

"If you make a really bad mistake, make it up to them in any way you can. And if they still don't want to forgive you, maybe it's their problem and not yours. Or they just need to calm down."

"Hmm."

Elecmon scooted a little closer. "Here, let me tell you a story. Back when I was chosen to be the caretaker of Primary Village, I didn't think I could do it at first."

Dati couldn't believe his ears. "But you're amazing at taking care of all of those babies!"

"Well, thanks. But I didn't know it at the time. I thought taking care of all of the babies would be the toughest job ever. But I decided to give it a try, and as it turned out, I was good at taking care of babies! The point is, you should at least give it a try. If you can become a hero, great! If not, then at least you can say you tried. And just so you know, even if you digivolve to Mega, there's always a place for you here."

"Thanks, Elecmon."

"Oh, and by the way, if you're looking for a place to start out, I recommend File City. A lot of the digimon there are friendly enough. You could see if they have any troubles to solve."

"Okay."

With that, they left to see the others. Although Dati's confidence had been renewed, he still decided to wait until the next day before traveling.

That night, he and Botamon had just finished reading a couple of picture books in the hut, and Botamon had something on his mind.

"So, you're gonna leave tomorrow?" Botamon asked.

"Yep," Dati replied. "I figured that if I stayed here, then I wouldn't get anything done. I mean, I like you and the other digimon I've met here, but..."

"Oh, no, I understand," Botamon said. "I'm gonna miss you, though. But hey, maybe we'll meet each other if you decide to go to Mesozoic Isle one day. And just think of all the cool places you're gonna visit!"

"Yeah...by the way, thanks for standing up for me."

"No problem! That's what friends are for, right? And I don't like it when my friends are upset."

Before Dati could answer, he heard a voice coming from the doorway.

"Hey, Dati!"

He turned to see who called him, and saw Paomon, Reremon, SnowBotamon, and KoDokugumon standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hi, guys!" Dati said. "Botamon and I were just talking about stuff."

Paomon entered the hut. "We heard you were going to leave tomorrow, so we decided to visit you."

"Thanks for playing soccer with us," SnowBotamon said. "I had a lot of fun playing with you, and so did the others."

Reremon nodded. "You're a pretty fast runner. Ever thought about joining a soccer team?"

Dati looked confused. "Not really..."

KoDokugumon skitted up to Dati and put one of his front legs around him. "Heh! Well, if you ever wanna do something like that, find us and say the word! We were thinking of maybe starting our own team when we get strong enough."

"Thanks."

And so the six babies kept talking about different things until it was time to go to bed. Everyone said goodnight to each other, and Dati stayed in the hut.

_Tomorrow, it'll be time..._ Dati thought before falling asleep.

_He stood inside the edge of a massive colosseum. The other end was just barely visible from here. Up in the stands, a crowd of all sorts of digimon clapped and cheered, their voices blending into one continuous noise. Suddenly, a voice came from behind him._

_"You ready, squirt?"_

_With that, someone ran ahead of him. He almost wanted to say it was a human...but none of the humans he'd seen had any wings. The strange figure looked towards the other end of the colosseum and started yelling out some taunts of sorts._

_"You think you're tough, do ya? Well, think again, cause now you have...to deal with!"_

_Huh? Was the figure saying his name just now? Why couldn't Dati hear it? Something was not right here..._

_Dati walked up next to the winged humanoid and stared straight ahead; the ground began rumbling to a steady beat, as if something large was coming this way._

_Suddenly, a male voice began sounding through a loudspeaker, above the sound of the crowd._

_"All right, ladies and gentlemen, digimon of all stages! You want carnage? You're gonna get it, 'cause here come these guys' opponents! Two of the toughest guys around, the duo of debacles and disaster...give it up for-"_

"Wake up, Dati!"

"Hey! What...?" Dati looked around; he was no longer in the colosseum, but back in the hut in Primary Village. Botamon was standing next to him.

"Elecmon's getting breakfast ready," Botamon explained. "I thought you might wanna have something to eat. Y'know, before you have to go?"

Dati blinked. "Oh...thanks for telling me. I'll have to go see about that."

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine...I just had a weird dream."

Botamon hopped towards the door. "Why don't you tell me about it while we go get breakfast?"

"Okay."

So as they walked out of the hut and over to an area with picnic tables, Dati told Botamon all about the colosseum, the crowd, the winged humanoid whose name he couldn't hear, the rumbling ground, and the announcer.

"I mean, my dreams are usually weird, but this one almost felt realistic," Dati said. "Just like the one with the butterflies and the dragon."

"Yeah...dreams are weird," Botamon replied.

The two took a seat at a picnic table.

"So, where do you wanna go?" Botamon asked.

Dati shrugged. "I don't know. File City, probably. Elecmon told me it'd be a good place to start, so why not?"

"And look who it is!" Botamon said.

Sure enough, Elecmon was walking up to them with a couple trays of pancakes and sausage, and two glasses of milk.

"Here you go, Botamon, and here's one for you, Dati," he said, handing them each a tray.

Botamon's eyes lit up. "Yay!" With that, he began chowing down like he hadn't eaten for days. Dati, meanwhile, took his time eating breakfast. It was going to be his last breakfast in Primary Village for a while, so he decided to savor each bite.

When they were done, Botamon went off to play. Dati, on the other hand, decided to visit Elecmon for some last-minute preparations.

"So, how do I get to File City?" he asked.

Elecmon pointed to some grasslands outside the edge of Primary Village. "See those grasslands over there? Just follow the signs on the path, and you'll make it to File City."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you!"

Suddenly, Paomon came hopping up to Elecmon. "Elecmon! SnowBotamon and Kiimon are fighting!"

Elecmon put his paw on his face. "Not again...all right, I'm on my way."

Elecmon and Paomon left to diffuse the fight.

Dati just stood there, his mind racing with thoughts.

_Now that I know what to do, I think maybe I should go now...I'm still a little scared, but I can't put it off forever..._

Botamon hopped up to him. "Hey, Dati, I saw you talking to Elecmon. Does that mean it's...y'know, 'go time'? Not that I don't like having you around, of course. I was just wondering."

Dati faltered for a bit, but regained his composure. "...Yes. I think it's time."

"Oh..." Botamon said, then turned to face a lot of the babies. "Hey, guys! Dati's leaving! If you wanna say goodbye to him, you should do it now!"

In an instant, Dati found himself surrounded by a huge crowd of babies. Some of them were saying goodbye, but others were asking him a ton of questions. They wanted to know where he was going, why he was leaving, what he was going to do, and how he was going to do it. Some babies were begging him not to go, while others were begging him to take them along.

"Everyone! Everyone, calm down!" Dati said. When the babies calmed down, he decided to explain. "I'm just going to File City for now. Maybe I'll go somewhere else afterwards. But I want to fulfill my destiny as a digimon partner and help others. I like it here, but this is important to me, so I have to go. Goodbye for now, and thanks for helping me feel better."

With that, he turned towards the grasslands, but a group of babies stood in front of him.

"No! Please don't go!" a seed-like Nyokimon said.

"Can't you take us with you?" a fish-like Pichimon asked.

The babies started asking him a lot of questions again, but a voice quickly silenced them.

"Kids, calm down!"

Some of the babies moved out of the way to allow Elecmon to pass through. He stood next to Dati and continued.

"I know you're gonna miss him, but this journey's really important to him, like he said. Besides, he may visit Primary Village again one day. It's not like he's leaving forever. You'd be sad if someone kept trying to stop you from going somewhere you really wanted to go, right? And I know some of you want to go with him, but it's pretty dangerous out there sometimes. You'll have to digivolve before you can leave. He's been training really hard to be a hero, and both of us agree that he's ready. There's a saying I've heard before. It goes like this: if you love something, set it free; if it comes back, it's meant to be. I'm gonna miss him too, but we both know this is what's best for him. So why don't we all say goodbye to him?"

The babies began doing so.

"Goodbye, Dati!" "Have fun!" "Good luck!" "Come visit us one day!"

Botamon came over to him. "Don't worry. You can do this!"

"Thanks," Dati said before turning to the crowd. "Goodbye, and thank you!"

He turned around and began walking out of Primary Village, acknowledging a few more goodbyes. Before long, he'd crossed the border into the grasslands, and he could no longer hear the babies' voices.

_Wow, I'm really on my own now..._ he thought. _But...Elecmon said something about a sign. So where is it?_

Dati continued walking, mentally noting that the grass was providing a very different feeling than the plush landscape of Primary Village. Deep down, he wondered what other types of landscapes he would explore. Looking up at the sky, he saw a very thick blanket of clouds. Before he knew it, something appeared in the distance. He squinted, trying to make out its details. As he approached, he began noticing the shape: a square on a pole.

"Is this the sign?" he thought out loud, and picked up his pace.

He got closer and closer to the strange object, and once he got close enough, he could tell that it was in fact a sign.

_What does that say? File City...something._

Before he knew it, he was right at the foot of the signpost. The sign said, "File City: hard left". So Dati turned left and continued walking. He looked at the ground below and noticed that the grass was a little bit worn down, and he could see a few traces of soil.

_Hmm...were other digimon on this path?_

As he continued thinking, he barely even noticed the next sign, but he stopped to look. This new sign said, "File City: soft right". The path in that direction was getting clearer, as the grass had deteriorated more, revealing more of the dirt underneath. Dati advanced farther down the path, and he gradually began seeing buildings in the distance.

_Is that the city? I think I'm almost there!_

With that, he broke into a run, knowing that his journey would start very soon. His experiences of being a hero were about to begin.

As he ran, he saw a third sign, this one reading. "File City: dead ahead".

"Gee, I hadn't noticed," he muttered.

He continued running along the path. Unfortunately, since he was just an In-Training digimon, his stamina left a lot to be desired. Before long, he collapsed to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

"I'm...almost...there..." he said in between bouts of panting.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh...?" Dati looked at the source of the voice, who happened to be a pink bird.

"You look really exhausted. Is something wrong?"

Dati shook his head. "I was just...running..."

The bird tilted her head. "Running from something?"

"No...just running..."

The bird was about to reply when a drop of water fell on her head.

"Huh?" she said. Looking up, she could see that a lot of raindrops were beginning to fall to the ground. "Ooh...we shouldn't stay out here. Come with me; I have a sweets store on the edge of File City. We can stay there."

"I was just going to File City," Dati said, having finally regained his breath.

"See? It works out!" the bird replied. "Now, just follow me..."

With that, the bird started walking, and Dati tagged along next to her. The rain began to get more violent, but the two mostly disregarded it, since they knew they would be indoors soon enough.

"So, what brings you here to File City?" she asked.

"I want to be a hero! But first, I gotta start small..."

The bird nodded. "It makes sense for heroes to start small before moving on to bigger things. It's just like with baking; you have to make simple treats before making a really intricate wedding cake. Or, to put it another way, you have to crawl before you can walk."

"Yep. By the way, what-"

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're here," the bird said.

Dati looked at the building that stood in front of them. It was a simple wooden building, with double doors and a sign above that read, "Wool and Wings' Sweets and Sundries".

The bird looked at him. "Come on, let's go in."

A little bell jingled as the two of them walked inside, and the rain became little more than a faded rumble when the door closed. Dati's eyes wandered throughout the store. The wall on the left was dedicated to a huge shelf filled with all sorts of treats, either individually packaged or boxed together. There were cupcakes, donuts, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and that was just what Dati could see in a glimpse. The shelves eventually led to a door, which Dati assumed was for the employees. On the right, he could see a magazine rack that was filled with magazines from all corners of the Digital World. In the back, to the right of the door, there was a counter that had some barstools in front, as well as a cash register.

"This is a pretty nice shop, isn't it?" the bird asked. "My friend Sheepmon and I run this place together. She fetches the supplies, and I make them into lots of sweet treats!"

Suddenly, she realized she never told him her name. "By the way, my name is Biyomon."

"You can call me Dati," Dati replied. "So, wait a minute. Are you the Biyomon from-"

"The Digidestined?" Biyomon shook her head. "No, I'm just a Biyomon. It'd be interesting to be part of the Digidestined, though."

"Oh, okay."

"Anyway, speaking of my friend Sheepmon..." Biyomon began. "...I have a bit of a problem."

Dati looked worried. "What's wrong?"

Biyomon picked up Dati and placed him on a barstool before sitting on an adjacent one. "You see, earlier this morning, I sent her to get some supplies. Normally, she gets back here pretty quickly, like within an hour or so. Well, it's been two hours, and she hasn't come back. And with all this rain, I'm starting to get really worried about her."

"Ooh...should we go out to find her?" Dati asked.

Biyomon shrugged. "Well, part of me wants to, but the other part of me is worried about thieves breaking into the store. You may not know this, but there have been rumors of a thief going around. He makes people lose their will to fight, and by the time they snap back, he's made off with their things and left behind a piece of paper with a broken heart on it."

Before Dati could say anything, the bell jingled again. A black sheep with pink wool, red horns, and a missile launcher staggered inside with a piece of paper in her mouth. Her legs buckled and she collapsed, shivering.

Biyomon's eyes widened and she gasped. "Oh, no! Sheepmon!"

Dati hopped off of the barstool, and he and Biyomon ran up to Sheepmon. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"S-s-someone s-stole the g-goods..." Sheepmon explained, shuddering like it was freezing.

"Just hold on there, Sheepmon," Biyomon said. "I'll go get you a towel. Dati, why don't you ask her what happened?"

"Sure," Dati replied. As Biyomon went off into the back room, Dati asked, "So, what happened?"

"I w-was bringing s-supplies for Biyomon, b-but someone took th-them," Sheepmon began. ""They f-fired a weird attack at me, and s-somehow, I got extremely d-depressed. W-when I got out of it, the stuff was g-gone! I tried to find m-more, but then I realized I was out of b-bits. The thief left th-this behind..."

She pointed at the paper, which appeared to be blank. When Dati flipped it over, he saw a grey heart with red outlines and a cream-colored jagged line running down the middle of the heart.

Dati could hardly believe his eyes. "Is this...?"

Just then, Biyomon came out with a towel and put it over Sheepmon's torso. "There you go. Did you find out what happened?"

"Um, Biyomon?" Dati began. "I think that thief you told me about got to Sheepmon."

Biyomon sighed. "I was afraid of this...well, let me tell you something. A couple days ago, we had two special customers come in: a detective and his assistant. They were the ones who told us about the thief, in fact. Apparently, he's called "The Heartbreaker", and he's a wanted mon back where he's from. Our customers are from the same place he came from, and they've been chasing after him for a while now. When the weather clears up, I think you should go talk to them."

Sheepmon, no longer shivering, nodded. "If what I've heard is true, we're not the first ones he went after in File City, and I don't think we'll be the last..."

As the three continued talking, Dati had something on his mind.

_My first day out, and I'm already getting involved in something big...might as well see where this goes..._

**A/N: Whew. This chapter took me a while to write. Do you think I included a little too much in this chapter, or is it okay?**


	3. The Mystery Continues

**A/N: It's Chapter 3. What else can I say here?**

It had been just an hour since Sheepmon told the others about the thief. The rain was still pouring outside, but it had become quieter. Biyomon had gone off to the back room, leaving Sheepmon and Dati to talk about things in the front room.

"And then he asked, 'You mean cotton candy isn't made with real cotton?', and all I can do is think, 'Uh-oh...'" Sheepmon said.

"So, what did you do?" Dati asked.

"We ended up keeping that batch," Sheepmon explained. "In fact, we still have it somewhere in the back room. Too bad we can't think of anything to do with it. I mean, you can't eat it if it has cotton in it, but if you made it into clothes or something else like that, you wouldn't be able to wash it because of the sugar."

Dati shrugged. "Maybe you could stuff a pillow with it? I don't know..."

"Like I said, we're trying really hard to think of something," Sheepmon replied. "I'll tell you one thing, though: he knew how to make a caramel apple...even if it wasn't the conventional type."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how a caramel apple is usually an apple covered with caramel? Well, he took globs of caramel and made them into apple shapes. So if you wanted to, you could literally eat the whole apple, and you wouldn't have to worry about seeds or cores getting in the way. The only downside is that you'd have to spend quite some time brushing your teeth afterwards!"

The two digimon laughed, and Biyomon walked out of the back room, holding a tray with three cups of cocoa.

"Anyone want some cocoa?" she asked. "I figured I might as well use the last of the cocoa mix for now. Spring is almost here, so there's not going to be much of a market for hot cocoa. Don't worry; it's on me."

"Thank you!" Dati said, taking his cup. Sheepmon nodded and took one of her own.

"So, what's up?" Biyomon asked after taking a sip.

"I was just telling Dati about Kamemon," Sheepmon said.

"Oh, I remember him! He had a little trouble learning the ropes of baking and candy-making, but he did have a very good heart."

Dati looked at Biyomon. "What happened to him? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

Biyomon sipped her cocoa again. "He decided this wasn't for him and quit. Last time I talked to him, he told me he wanted to be a DJ, and was practicing his skills. Hopefully, he's been able to find a market for those skills."

"Yep," Sheepmon said. "There are lots of places he can go to: Mesozoic Isle, the Island of Balance, Server, Mainframe...if he can't find business in one place, he can always find another place to go. I'm sure there has to be a demand for a DJ somewhere; it's entertainment, and there's always a demand for entertainment."

"I've heard Mainframe is really dangerous, though..." Biyomon replied. "And I've also heard rumors of a crime boss on Mesozoic Isle. Somehow, he and his goons got to be so powerful that not even the island's toughest fighters can stop them."

"Just a thought. He doesn't have to go to those places if he doesn't want to."

"Wait a minute!" Dati exclaimed. "There's a crime boss on Mesozoic Isle?"

Biyomon nodded. "I was going to set up shop there, but some Chuumon started threatening me, so I ended up coming back here. That's when Sheepmon and I decided it would be safer to sell our sweets here. But, considering there's a thief running around, I'm not so sure. Were you planning on going there?"

"Maybe. But one of my friends said he wanted to go there because there's an engineer there who could teach him engineering. I'm just scared for my friend, 'cause if he got hurt, I'd feel really bad."

"Well, there are lots of digimon there who could protect him," Sheepmon said. "Apparently, though, the Chuumon on the island have been stirring up some animosity between everyone. Or at least, they're trying to. I don't know how well they've managed to succeed. Hopefully, they've been failing."

"Huh. Well, at any rate, I hope he'll be okay."

When everyone finished their cocoa, Biyomon looked out the window.

"Hey, Dati, I think the rain stopped," she said. "Wanna go see if the detective's still in town? Maybe you can help him find out where The Heartbreaker is."

Dati walked up to the door. "Okay...who do I look for?"

"A Pandamon named Vladimir."

"Vladimir?"

"Mm-hmm," Sheepmon replied with a nod. "You see, there are a lot of Pandamon where he comes from, and so he goes by the name Vladimir to distinguish himself from the others. Even when he's not in his homeland, he still uses that name. He told us himself when he and his partner came in."

"Okay."

Biyomon opened the door for Dati. "If you need anything else, just let us know."

"Thank you!" Dati said as he walked out the door. The scent of moist earth wafted through the air as he made his way across the wet stone pathway into the plaza of File City.

"Okay, so I need to look for a Pandamon," he said to himself. "And apparently he had an assistant. But what does this assistant look like? Is he a Pandamon, too? Does he at least look like a bear? Maybe I should've asked these questions before leaving..."

"Excuse me," a male voice said. Dati turned and saw a purple and brown dog-like creature with long rabbit-like ears, green pants, an ammunition belt over his chest, and metal machine guns on his forearms.

"Huh? What's up?" Dati asked.

The dog crouched down and asked, "Have you heard about the thief going around town?"

Dati tensed up a little. "Um, yes."

A somewhat concerned look was on the dog's face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should probably introduce myself before asking these questions. My name is BlackGargomon. I'm trying to find out more information about the thief."

"You mean The Heartbreaker?"

"Well...whatever thief's been going around town recently. How do you know about him?"

"He stole from Sheepmon."

"The candy store owner?"

"Yep. He left a piece of paper with a broken heart on it. Biyomon and Sheepmon told me to go into town and look for Vladimir the detective."

BlackGargomon nodded. "Yeah, I've heard about him. Hopefully, I'll get to meet him, and we can compare notes. The Heartbreaker stole from me too, you know."

"He did?"

"Uh-huh. You see, I had bought a special present for my girlfriend Taomon, but when I was bringing it home, The Heartbreaker ambushed me. Of course, I didn't see him, but I know it was him because I suddenly started feeling totally depressed. I couldn't help but lie down and bawl my eyes out. When I finally started to feel better, I found that my present was gone, and this was in its place."

BlackGargomon reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, and Dati gasped at what he saw. On it was the exact same drawing that was on Sheepmon's paper: a grey heart, a red outline, and a jagged, cream-colored line running down the middle of the heart.

"You recognize that drawing?" BlackGargomon asked.

"Sheepmon had one just like it!" Dati responded.

BlackGargomon stood up. "Hmm...so that makes at least two known targets of The Heartbreaker. I think Vladimir might know about some more. Honestly, I didn't get involved in this whole thing until my present was stolen."

"Excuse me," Dati said, pointing. "Is that Vladimir right there?"

BlackGargomon turned around and saw a panda with a red scarf. The panda was being escorted by a fox wearing fancy robes.

"I think maybe it is Vladimir!" BlackGargomon said. "And there's Taomon with him!"

With that, BlackGargomon ran up to the pair. Vladimir cringed and stuck out his paws in front of himself.

"Please watch where you're going, sir!" he said. BlackGargomon quickly stopped in front of them.

"Hey now, I wasn't going to run into you," he replied.

Vladimir squinted. "It's hard for me to tell without my glasses. Anyway, did you want something?"

"Yep! To be specific, I've learned some more information about The Heartbreaker. Not only did he steal from me, but as this little digimon told me, he also stole from Wool and Wings."

He looked at Dati and motioned to him. "By the way, what's your name? Sorry I didn't ask before."

"I'm Dati."

"Hello, Dati. My name is Vladimir," Vladimir said. "Please forgive me, but it's a little hard to see you right now. Without my glasses, everything looks blurry. So you say that The Heartbreaker stole from Biyomon and Sheepmon as well?"

"That's right. Sheepmon had bought some supplies, but The Heartbreaker stole them from her before she could get them back to the shop."

"Did he leave the paper?"

"Yes."

Vladimir sighed. "There's no stopping The Heartbreaker once he's let loose. He's an incredibly greedy fellow who wants everything he sees as long as it isn't nailed down. The residents of Ursa Town have taken several security measures to make sure he doesn't get their stuff, but even so, he can still make them depressed, and then try to bypass those security measures. We don't know why he acts like this, and he doesn't seem to want to tell us. Regardless, we've chased him from Ursa Town all the way to File City. Unfortunately, he was able to outsmart me and steal my glasses."

"Do you know what kind of digimon he is?" Dati asked. "I think maybe that would narrow it down a bit."

"I only know of one digimon that can make opponents feel depressed," Vladimir replied. "That digimon is called WaruMonzaemon. He basically looks like an evil teddy bear with the same color scheme as the broken heart drawings."

"Hmm..." Dati said. "So why haven't we seen him?"

"He must have improved his stealth abilities," Vladimir explained.

They were all about to continue the discussion, but then...

"Hey! Vlad!"

The four digimon saw a smaller bear running up to them. This bear was a greyish color with various dark blue accessories, including a backwards baseball cap with the word "BEARS" printed on it. He was also wearing a backpack.

"Is that you, Hovis?" Vladimir asked.

The bear stopped in front of everyone and looked at Vladimir. "Yep, it's me! I just thought I should tell you that I found another clue."

Dati walked up to him. "So, your name's Hovis?"

"Mm-hmm. Hovis the Bearmon!" Hovis replied. "I'm Vlad's assistant. Not only do I help him find clues, but I draw sketches as well."

Hovis took off his backpack, unzipped it, and reached inside. "And I just found something rather interesting."

He pulled out a sketchpad and flipped through the pages until he found the picture he was looking for, and then he showed everyone what he sketched. It was the area near the sweets store. There were some hoofprints and bear tracks in the mud, and while the hoofprints led to the entrance to the store, the bear tracks appeared to be leading to another place.

"Good thing I'd brought my umbrella with me, or else I wouldn't have been able to do any sketching in all that rain!" Hovis said.

Vladimir squinted again. "What's on the page?"

BlackGargomon told him, and Vladimir said, "Hmm. This must be what Dati told us about. I wonder where his tracks lead."

Taomon shrugged. "Maybe we'll find out soon enough."

"That's right, sweetie," BlackGargomon replied. "But I'm thinking that maybe we should formulate a plan before we try to take the fight to The Heartbreaker. If we all just rush in like a bunch of maniacs, he may do more than just steal from us."

"True," Vladimir said. "So, why don't we all take a break for a while? Maybe tomorrow, we can try to learn more information."

BlackGargomon nodded. "Yeah, if we get too involved in this right now, we may just keep going in circles and stressing ourselves out. What do you guys wanna do?"

"Um..." Dati began. "I don't really know my way around here. Maybe I could go for a walk and learn where everything is?"

"You know something?" Hovis asked. "I don't know my way around here, either. How's about we go around and see what's in File City? Maybe I could even draw us a map. I'm not really the king of cartographers, but still."

"Good idea," BlackGargomon said. "Maybe I can show you around and tell you about all the different places."

He looked at Vladimir and Taomon. "Wanna come with us?"

"All right."

"Mm-hmm."

So, for the better part of the day, BlackGargomon and Taomon took the others on a tour of File City. Hovis took notes on the different locations within. Aside from the candy store, they spent time at a video store, went to the docks (where a serpent named Seadramon was offering ferry services), visited a stadium, and even went to the outskirts of File City, where they could see a trailer in the distance.

"I've heard that's where a rock band hangs out!" BlackGargomon said.

"A rock band, huh?" Dati replied.

"It'd be cool to hear some of their songs!" Hovis chimed in.

By the time the tour was finished, the sun was beginning to set in the sky.

"You guys wanna stay with Taomon and me at our place?" BlackGargomon asked. "We don't mind!"

"Okay. Thank you!" Dati said.

"I'm in!" Hovis added.

"Yes, I'd appreciate that very much," Vladimir stated.

So, the five of them went to the house where BlackGargomon and Taomon lived, and they agreed that tomorrow, they were going to ask everyone about The Heartbreaker.

While they were eating dinner, Dati decided to tell them his story.

"And I mean, I wanted to help people, but I wasn't expecting to get involved in a big thing so soon!" he had said.

Hovis slurped some noodles. "Well, it doesn't mean you can't help with little things, you know. Honestly, we don't care if you end up helping other people while you're helping us. And why would we? I mean, you're helping people!"

"That's right, Hovis," Vladimir said. "Honestly, this must be exciting for you. I mean, this is only your first day out, and you're getting involved in a mystery!"

"Hopefully, everything will work out," Dati replied.

BlackGargomon sipped some water. "I'm sure it will! If you need anything, don't forget that you have friends here."

"Thanks, everyone."

As Dati continued to eat his dinner, his mind was racing with thoughts of what tomorrow could bring.

**A/N: Sorry this took a little while, but here it is now. I hope you don't mind that some of the digimon in this story have given names. As always, if you have any advice, feel free to leave a review.**


End file.
